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Xander Bogaerts in the running to be baseball's best prospect

Xander Bogaerts, who tops Baseball America's hot sheet for the week, is in he running to be the best prospect in baseball.

By Ben Buchanan
USA TODAY Sports

Baseball America has Xander Bogaerts at the top of their prospect hot sheet thanks to a 9-for-17 performance over the past week. Not only is Xander hitting better than 500 over that period, but over the course of a nine-game hitting streak. Add in 10 walks and four homers in that period, and it's easy to see why some might consider him to be hot right now.

But wait! There's more! Baseball America's glowing report includes a couple of choice tidbits:

After what Bogaerts is doing in Double-A, he's putting himself in the discussion for the No. 1 spot at the end of the year.

Not only is Bogaerts one of the most dangerous hitters in the minors, but his defense has improved to the point where he could spend the early part of his career at shortstop rather than having to move to third base immediately...

Alright, it shouldn't be terribly surprising that the #8 prospect is set to move up in the world if he keeps dominating his league. The apparent addition of discipline to his game is ust about the best thing that could've happened for his stock, and now that he's clubbing homers again, there's really no way to put a negative spin on his year-to-date. Let's not let the fact that it wouldn't be a complete shock dampen how big an endorsement that would be, though. The last time Baseball America named a Red Sox player the best prospect in all of baseball was before 2007 with Daisuke Matsuzaka and oh God I've ruined everything and doomed Bogaerts to a career of disappointment and misery. Why?! Why?!

Ahem...

But the defense note...oh the defense note. If there's been one knock against Bogaerts, it's that he likely wasn't going to absolutely maximize his value by making it to the majors as a shortstop (except perhaps in the way Hanley is, and the way Miguel Cabrera is a third baseman).

More and more, though, it's becoming the prevailing opinion that Xander Bogaerts will be a legitimate option at shortstop, if only for so many seasons. If it won't last forever, though, it will make him very easy to live with through any hard times he should face early on*.

*Except that Xander Bogaerts will never ever struggle and you should feel ashamed for thinking he might.

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